In the mythology and folklore of Bolivia and northern Argentina Ekeko is a fortune bearer god that has not lost prestige. It is used to offer him banknotes and/or coins to obtain money, grains for a good harvest, and some food to ensure prosperity in general. Ekeko is also known in other zones of Argentina due to immigration and internal migrations, but there his followers, who adopted him as a superstition more than as a folkloric deity, consider him as some kind of beneficent patron.

In art he is depicted as a man, wearing traditional Bolivian clothes (especially the cap) and carrying bags and baskets with grain and food (compare with the cornucopia of some Greco-Roman deities); he is commonly found as a little statue to be put in some place of the house, preferably a comfortable one, but also as an amulet holding from key rings; modern statues of the god include a circular opening in his mouth to place there a cigarette (better if lit) for Ekeko's pleasure.